How to Install Proxmox VE on a Vultr Bare Metal Server

Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is an open-source server virtualization platform built on Debian GNU/Linux. It combines KVM hypervisor-based virtual machines and LXC containers under a single web-based management interface, and supports features like live migration, high availability clustering, and integrated backup.

This guide covers installing Proxmox VE on a Vultr Bare Metal server, configuring the network and storage, and setting up an Nginx reverse proxy to serve the web UI.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• Have a Vultr Bare Metal server with at least two disks, deployed with any available Linux OS and the No RAID - Extra disks unformatted disk configuration. This guide uses the second disk as a temporary boot device for the Proxmox installer. Plans with a single disk do not support this installation method.
• Create a DNS A record pointing to your server's IP address, for example pve.example.com.

Prepare the Installation Media

Vultr Bare Metal servers ship with multiple disks. Depending on the plan, these can be NVMe drives (appearing as /dev/nvme0n1, /dev/nvme1n1) or SATA SSDs (appearing as /dev/sda, /dev/sdb).

1. Download the latest Proxmox VE ISO to the server. Check the official releases page for the current version and replace the URL in the command below with the direct download link listed there.

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   # wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/iso/proxmox-ve_9.2-1.iso -O proxmox-ve.iso

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2. Verify the checksum of the downloaded ISO.

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   # sha256sum proxmox-ve.iso

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   Verify that the output matches the SHA256 checksum listed on the official releases page for the version you downloaded.

3. List all available disks to identify the primary disk (where the temporary OS is installed) and a spare disk for the ISO.

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   # lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,MOUNTPOINTS

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   The OS disk has partitions listed beneath it with active mountpoints such as /, /boot/efi, or [SWAP]. The spare disk appears as a single line with no partitions or mountpoints under it. For example:

   NAME     SIZE TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
   sda    894.3G disk
   sdb    894.3G disk
   ├─sdb1   512M part /boot/efi
   └─sdb2 893.8G part /

   In this example, sdb is the OS disk and sda is the spare. On NVMe disk plans, device names appear as nvme0n1 and nvme1n1 instead.

   Note the device path of the spare disk. The remaining steps in this section use ISO_DISK as a placeholder for this path.

4. Write the ISO to the spare disk. Replace ISO_DISK with the device path identified in the previous step. This command overwrites all data on the device.

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   # dd if=proxmox-ve.iso of=/dev/ISO_DISK bs=4096 status=progress

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   Wait for dd to complete before proceeding.

Install Proxmox VE

Vultr Bare Metal servers use Supermicro UEFI firmware, which supports selecting a boot device from a menu at startup. The Proxmox VE installer is a graphical wizard that runs from the ISO disk written in the previous section.

1. Log in to the Vultr Console and navigate to your bare metal server's instance page. Click Restart to reboot the server, then immediately click View Console to open the web console.

2. Watch the console. The BIOS initializes hardware first, then the Supermicro splash screen appears with the prompt: Press <F11> to invoke Boot Menu. Press F11 when you see this prompt. The UEFI boot selection menu appears.

3. The boot selection menu lists PXE network entries, disk entries, and Enter Setup. Select the UEFI OS entry. The disk model name appears in parentheses next to it. On SATA disk plans, the port identifier (for example, P3 or P4) also appears, which helps distinguish disks when multiple entries share the same model name.

4. In the Proxmox VE installer boot menu, select Install Proxmox VE (Graphical) and press Enter.

5. Read and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) by clicking I Agree.

6. On the Target Harddisk screen, select the disk to install Proxmox VE on. The installer overwrites all data on the selected disk. Either disk works — the ISO has already loaded into RAM and is no longer needed.

7. Click Options to choose a filesystem.

   Filesystem	Description
   ext4	Default. Uses Logical Volume Manager (LVM). Suitable for most single-disk setups.
   xfs	Uses LVM. Handles large files and high I/O workloads.
   ZFS (RAID0)	Software RAID with checksumming and snapshot support. Does not require a hardware RAID controller.

   For a single-disk bare metal install, leave the filesystem as ext4. The installer creates an LVM volume group called pve with separate logical volumes for root, data, and swap.

8. Click Next.

9. On the Location and Time Zone screen, select your Country, Timezone, and Keyboard Layout. Click Next.

10. On the Administration Password and Email screen, set the root password and enter an email address for system notifications. Use a minimum of 12 characters with mixed case, numbers, and symbols. Click Next.

11. On the Management Network Configuration screen, the installer auto-populates the IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS server from the running OS. Update only the Hostname (FQDN) field with your fully qualified domain name, for example pve.example.com. Leave the Pin network interface names checkbox checked.

    Field	Value
    Management Interface	The active interface, shown as nic0. A filled circle indicates the link is UP.
    Hostname (FQDN)	Enter your fully qualified domain name, for example pve.example.com.
    IP Address (CIDR)	Auto-populated from the running OS. Verify it matches your server's static IP.
    Gateway	Auto-populated. Verify it matches your network gateway.
    DNS Server	Auto-populated. Verify it matches your DNS resolver.

    The installer creates a Linux bridge called vmbr0 and binds it to the selected interface. Virtual machines and containers use this bridge to access the network.

    Note

    The installer accepts either an IPv4 or an IPv6 address, but not both. Configure dual-stack networking after installation by editing /etc/network/interfaces.

12. Click Next.

13. Review the installation summary. Verify the target disk, filesystem, IP address, hostname, and timezone.

14. Click Install. The installer partitions the disk, installs Debian and all Proxmox VE packages, configures the bootloader, and reboots the server automatically.

Access the Proxmox Web UI

The Proxmox VE web interface runs on port 8006 and uses Linux PAM for authentication. Before a reverse proxy is configured, it is accessible directly over the server's IP address.

1. After the server reboots, the GNU GRUB boot menu appears with Proxmox VE GNU/Linux selected. Press Enter or wait for it to boot automatically.

2. Open a browser and navigate to the Proxmox web interface. Replace SERVER_IP with the static IP address configured during installation.

   https://SERVER_IP:8006

   The default Proxmox certificate is self-signed. Your browser displays a certificate warning. Accept the warning to proceed.

   

3. Log in with the username root and select the Linux PAM standard authentication realm. Enter the root password set during installation.

   Verify that the Proxmox VE dashboard loads and the server node appears in the left sidebar.

Configure Post-Install Repositories

Proxmox VE enables the enterprise repository by default, which requires a paid subscription key. The no-subscription repository provides the same packages without a subscription and is maintained by the Proxmox project.

1. SSH into the Proxmox host.

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   $ ssh root@SERVER_IP

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   If SSH returns a host key warning, the server's key has changed since the temporary OS was installed. Remove the stale key and reconnect.

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   $ ssh-keygen -R SERVER_IP

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2. Disable the enterprise repositories.

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   # sed -i '/^Types:/a Enabled: no' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.sources
   # sed -i '/^Types:/a Enabled: no' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ceph.sources

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3. Create the no-subscription repository file.

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   # cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-no-subscription.sources << 'EOF'
   Types: deb
   URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
   Suites: trixie
   Components: pve-no-subscription
   Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
   EOF

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4. Update the package index and upgrade all packages.

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   # apt update && apt full-upgrade -y

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   Verify that the update completes without subscription key errors.

Reclaim the Remaining Disks

After installation, one disk holds the Proxmox VE operating system and the remaining disks are unused. These disks may carry a stale partition table from the original OS or the ISO, but have no active mounts. Proxmox's Directory storage type requires a mounted filesystem before a disk can be registered in the storage pool.

Repeat the following steps for each disk you want to reclaim. Replace DISK with the device path (for example, sdb).

1. List all disks and identify those not used by Proxmox.

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   # lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,MOUNTPOINTS

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   The Proxmox disk has active mountpoints such as /, /boot, or [SWAP] under its partitions or LVM volumes. Disks with no active mountpoints are available for storage.

2. Install the partitioning tools.

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   # apt install parted -y

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3. Wipe the partition table on the target disk.

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   # wipefs -a /dev/DISK

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4. Create a new GPT partition table and a single partition.

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   # parted /dev/DISK mklabel gpt mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%

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5. Format the partition with ext4. The partition name is derived from the disk name: for SATA drives, append the partition number directly (for example, sda → sda1); for NVMe drives, insert a p before the number (for example, nvme0n1 → nvme0n1p1). Replace DISK1 with the partition name for your disk.

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   # mkfs.ext4 /dev/DISK1

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6. Create a mount point. Use a unique path for each disk.

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   # mkdir -p /mnt/data1

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7. Mount the partition. Replace DISK1 with the partition name used in the previous step.

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   # mount /dev/DISK1 /mnt/data1

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8. Add the mount to /etc/fstab so it persists across reboots. Replace DISK1 with the partition name.

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   # echo '/dev/DISK1 /mnt/data1 ext4 defaults 0 2' >> /etc/fstab

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   After formatting all available disks, add them as Directory storage in the Proxmox web UI under Datacenter > Storage > Add > Directory.

Configure the Firewall

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) is a frontend for iptables that manages inbound traffic rules. Its default incoming policy denies all connections that are not explicitly allowed.

1. Install UFW.

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   # apt install ufw -y

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2. Allow SSH to prevent being locked out when the firewall is enabled.

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   # ufw allow ssh

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3. Allow HTTP and HTTPS for Nginx and Let's Encrypt certificate validation.

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   # ufw allow http
   # ufw allow https

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4. Enable the firewall.

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   # ufw enable

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5. Verify the active rules.

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   # ufw status

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   Verify that the output shows ports 22, 80, and 443 as ALLOW. All other ports, including 8006, are blocked by UFW's default deny policy.

Install and Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy

Proxmox generates a self-signed TLS certificate for the FQDN configured during installation and stores it at /etc/pve/local/. The noVNC console upgrades its connection to WebSocket, so the proxy must forward the Upgrade and Connection headers explicitly.

1. Install Nginx.

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   # apt install nginx -y

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2. Create the Nginx virtual host configuration for Proxmox.

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   # nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/proxmox

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3. Add the following configuration. Replace pve.example.com with your domain.

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   upstream proxmox {
       server localhost;
   }
   
   server {
       listen 80 default_server;
       listen [::]:80 default_server;
       rewrite ^(.*) https://$host$1 permanent;
   }
   
   server {
       listen 443 ssl;
       listen [::]:443 ssl;
       server_name pve.example.com;
       ssl_certificate /etc/pve/local/pve-ssl.pem;
       ssl_certificate_key /etc/pve/local/pve-ssl.key;
       proxy_redirect off;
   
       location / {
           proxy_http_version 1.1;
           proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
           proxy_pass https://localhost:8006;
           proxy_buffering off;
           client_max_body_size 0;
           proxy_connect_timeout 3600s;
           proxy_read_timeout 3600s;
           proxy_send_timeout 3600s;
           send_timeout 3600s;
       }
   }

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   Save and close the file.

   The Upgrade and Connection headers enable WebSocket passthrough, which the noVNC console requires.

4. Enable the site by creating a symlink in the sites-enabled directory.

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   # ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/proxmox /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/proxmox

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5. Remove the default Nginx site configuration.

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   # rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

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6. Test the Nginx configuration for syntax errors.

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   # nginx -t

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   Verify that the output shows syntax is ok and test is successful.

7. Create the systemd override directory for Nginx.

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   # mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d

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8. Write the override configuration. This makes Nginx start after the Proxmox cluster filesystem is mounted, which is required to read the TLS certificates at /etc/pve/local/ on boot.

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   # cat > /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/override.conf << 'EOF'
   [Unit]
   After=pve-cluster.service
   EOF

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9. Reload the systemd daemon to apply the override.

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   # systemctl daemon-reload

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10. Restart Nginx.

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    # systemctl restart nginx

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Obtain a TLS Certificate

Proxmox generates a self-signed TLS certificate that browsers do not trust by default. Let's Encrypt is a free certificate authority that issues publicly trusted certificates, automated through the Certbot client.

1. Install Certbot and the Nginx plugin.

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   # apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

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2. Obtain and install a certificate for your domain. Replace pve.example.com with your domain.

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   # certbot --nginx -d pve.example.com

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   Certbot prompts for an email address for renewal notifications and asks you to agree to the Let's Encrypt Terms of Service. After accepting, it completes the domain validation and updates the Nginx configuration to use the new certificate.

3. Verify that automatic renewal works.

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   # certbot renew --dry-run

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   Verify that the output shows Congratulations, all simulated renewals succeeded.

4. Open a browser and navigate to your domain. Verify that the browser shows the connection as secure.

Conclusion

Proxmox VE is installed on your Vultr Bare Metal server and accessible at your domain over HTTPS. The management interface is bound to the vmbr0 bridge with a static IP, the no-subscription repository is configured for package updates, and the remaining disks are formatted and available for VM and container storage. From the Proxmox dashboard, you can create virtual machines, LXC containers, and configure storage pools. For more information, refer to the Proxmox VE Administration Guide.